Brussels
Before WWIIBelgium
is a very small country in Western Europe. Over the centuries it has had
several foreign occupations, including Prussian, Dutch and Spanish. Even the
British occupied Belgium when Wellington beat Napoleon at Waterloo.

Annie
grew up in Brussels as an only child. She was born and lived in Rue Pierre
Alderson, Schaerbeek. This area is located to the north east of central
Brussels. It is famous for its cherry-flavoured beer, called Gueuze.

Annie’s
father had been in the Belgian Army and the Belgian Air Force during in the
First World War. She had two brothers but they had died at birth.

“I
lived near Brussels Airport. At one time my father was in the Belgian Air
Force and then went on to work in Brussels Airport.”

Annie
aged 18 with Schaerbeek in the background

German
OccupationThe
Germans arrived on the 10th May 1939 after 3am. It was a
Blitzkrieg, a lightening war. The ground troops came over the borders on May
10th, early in the morning. Their aircraft had bombed the Albert
Canal and the Marginot Line. Brussels was occupied before the citizens
realised it.

The
fighting against the German occupation in Belgium only lasted 18 days before
King Leopold III capitulated. France went through the same experience and
capitulated a few weeks later. Annie lost her freedom for the next four
years.

Air
RaidsBrussels was
occupied so fast it did not experience the blitz as Belfast and London had.
The biggest air raid in Belgium occurred in 1943 when the city of Ghent in
Flanders was attacked.

Like
Paris, Brussels was an open city. Annie often heard the British and American
planes going over to bomb Germany and the German planes going over to bomb
England. Occasionally British planes going over to bomb Germany, such as the
Lancasters, would be shot down in Belgium and explode over a town or
village.

FearIn
the free world you are bombarded with information from dawn to dusk. The
German occupiers denied the Belgians all forms of information. All radios
were confiscated and you were even denied the use of their bicycles.

The
Germans also controlled the newspapers. There was very little outside news
from the rest of the world.The
people of Belgium did not know what was going on so they lived in constant
fear. This was particularly true for the older citizens. Annie and her young
friends did not find the experience as intimidating.Even so, it was impossible to socialise in the cinemas, ice cream
parlours or parks. These areas were constantly raided by the Germans.

“The
young men were usually stopped in the street and sent to Germany for slave
labour.”

The
teenagers developed a hatred for the Germans. The safest place for young
people meet up was in the libraries. During the early period of occupation,
the Germans never raided the libraries of Brussels.

Annie’s
home in Tobermore has a large collection of books. She has stated very often
that the German occupation experiences gave her the habit for collecting
books. She spent four years of her teenage life socialising in libraries
until the curfew at 8pm.

“I
love reading and I still read quite a lot. I was only 16 when the war
started. Eventually the Germans closed down the libraries but the schools
kept going.”

Belgian
ResistanceWith movement, transport and news restrictions enforced, the
occupation was demoralising and oppressive for the older people of Brussels.
The young people of Brussels could see that it was their parents who lost
hope. They despised the Germans for this and always tried to put on a brave
face.

Belgium
formed a Resistance Group during the German occupation. Teenagers and
students became involved in non-combat duties for the resistance. Annie and
her friends were always carrying out small acts of defiance.

“When
we were young we delivered bandages to the hospital. We were being used by
the (Belgian) Underground and the bandages contained messages. At the age of
15 or 16 you did not think about the dangers.”

After
the war the Red Cross acknowledged the work of these brave teenagers. They
awarded each of them with a photograph of Generals Eisenhower and
Montgomery. Annie still has this memento hanging in the hallway of her
Tobermore home.

The
Jewish Pogrom The biggest
horror of the German occupation of Brussels was the treatment of the Jewish
population. Brussels before the war and during the war had a large Jewish
population which became the targets of the Nazi death squads. Annie lost
many friends in the Concentration Camps.

Her
Jewish school friends were at school one day and then gone the next day.
No-one knew or could understand the horror that was unfolding. A whole
Jewish family would often disappear. Annie did not learn the full story of
the Holocaust until after the war.

“They all
had to wear stars on their coats to show they were Jews. I was unaware of
what was happening to my Jewish friends at the beginning. We began to
understand what was happening when we gathered some more information. This
was unforgivable; fighting a war was different from what was happening.”

LiberationThe Germans control of information was good.The
citizens of Brusselsdid not know about the Normandy landings
in June 1944.

“We
knew that the liberation was in the air. There were people who had secret
radios hidden in their cellars. They had heard that there was going to be an
invasion.”

Annie
only fully realised something was happening when she saw the convoys of
heavy trucks loaded with Germans leaving the coastline. “Le Soir”, the
biggest national newspaper in Belgium was the first paper to announce that
“The Allied Troops Have Landed”.

The
Coleraine BatteryAnnie first met Harry a few days after the liberation of
Brussels. That was late in December 1944. He was stationed at Brussels
Airport, near to where Annie lived. Bob McClintock and Harry came from their
base to recall all the soldiers who had been invited to a big street party.
Unfortunately that day the Germans had advanced into the Ardennes where the
Americans were posted.

“There
was a big reunion in the Café; there was a big Café in the street where we
lived. That’s where I first met Harry, Bob McClintock and a few others.”

Few
people in the street spoke English. Annie was elected to speak to the
soldiers because she understood some English. When she entered the Café,
she recalled that she could see two handsome British soldiers.

Harry
StockmanBob McClintock

At
that time Annie was nearly 18 years of age. When she saw Harry, who was a
blonde with blue eyes and Bob with the brown eyes and black hair she thought
they were a very handsome pair. Annie was introduced as the translator.
Harry told her that all the soldiers had to gather up their kit and go back
to base. They were to be deployed in the Ardennes.

It was
four months before Annie saw Harry again. Annie recalled that Stockman was a
very easy name for a Belgian to remember. It was almost like a Dutch name.

Courtship“Harry lost a stripe one time because he ‘borrowed’ a jeep
in order to come and visit me.On the return journey the jeep broke down and he failed to
parade on time. Back at the base, Sam Henderson managed to cover for him for
a while. When asked by the major where Harry was, Sam replied that he was
doing something in the Motor Transport Section. Harry was demoted from
Sergeant to Bombardier for a while.”

Marriage Annie was married in the
Anglican Military Church in Brussels on March 9th 1946. Her
father was not happy with the situation. He would not allow Annie go to N
Ireland until certain stipulations were met by Harry. He wanted Harry to
find a job for himself and a home for his daughter after his demob in April
1946. This would not be an easy task. Harry had been away from home for six
years. After five months, Harry met the stipulations and in October that
year he went back to Brussels and took Annie to her new home in Cookstown.

English
Language When Annie came to N.
Ireland in 1946 she recalled the first song she had heard sung in English by
her uncle. He was a veteran of the WWI and he would sing, ‘It’s a Long
Way To Tipperary’.

Annie
found the Mid Ulster dialect difficult to understand. The English she had
learned in Belgium was quite different. In her everyday interaction with the
people of Tobermore, she often had to resort to the use of her dictionary,
much to the amusement of the locals.

“I’ve
lived here for over 60 years and when some people hear my accent they still
ask me if I am over here on holiday.”

TobermoreWhen Annie came to Tobermore for the first time she was greeted
by a local gentleman as she was getting off the bus.

“Willie
Richardson was Walter Richardson’s brother. He was a very down to earth
character. We lived in Cookstown for a while. I came off the bus in
Tobermore and Willie Richardson came over to me and said, “Are you Harry
Stockman’s wife?” I replied, “Well, yes I am.” And he said “Why,
you just look like one of us”.Annie
found that comment very reassuring because she did not know what the
Tobermore people expected her to look like.

Annie
found the people of Tobermore to be very kind and she has lived there since
1946. Annie said, “I have been very happy in Tobermore. I never regretted
coming to Tobermore. The people have always been very friendly.”

Harry
died in 2000 and Annie still lives in Tobermore Village surrounded by many
friends and the relatives of the Battery veterans; that includes the
Richardson’s, the Moore’s, and the Hudson’s. (2005)